“He’d been so desperate … to avoid committing himself, intent on holding at bay even the most fundamental facts of life—and death.” Taken from the story “Irises, Purple Irises” in volume 1 of Jack Andrew Urquhart’s serial story collection, So They Say, this line may be the best way to think about Rex Fordham, the collection’s southern-born protagonist. In stories spanning the 50s through the 80s, Urquhart’s central character pursues a notion of normalcy at odds with fundamental truths personal and universal.